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Managing Cultural Diversity: North‐American Experiences and Suggestions for the German Unification Process
Author(s) -
Moghaddam Fathali M.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207599308246958
Subject(s) - multiculturalism , unification , meritocracy , german , contradiction , diversity (politics) , assimilation (phonology) , cultural assimilation , cultural diversity , epistemology , sociology , psychology , environmental ethics , social science , political science , ethnic group , law , anthropology , pedagogy , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , programming language
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the usefulness of thinking of assimilation and multiculturalism as strategies for managing cultural diversity. The illustrative case is Germany and its recent unification. These contrasting strategies have been most extensively explored in North America, and these experiences are reviewed through a discussion of the different forms that assimilation and multiculturalism take and the psychological underpinnings each involves. The recent shift in emphasis from assimilation to multiculturalism in Western societies is highlighted, leading to the conclusion that a fundamental contradiction exists between the ideals of meritocracy that pervade these societies and the ideals of collective multiculturalism.